Motor vehicle interior trim components, such as automobile headliners, trunk liners, rear package shelves, and A-, B- and C-column cover panels, and such as aircraft cabin paneling, are conventionally produced by laminating and molding several material layers. It is generally known to provide a multi-layered structural substrate of synthetic and/or natural fibers, to laminate a surface cover layer onto the structural substrate, and to three-dimensionally mold the laminated article into a finished three-dimensional configuration. The lamination and molding processes can be carried out in plural steps, or alternatively in one single working operation. The structural substrate is produced from one or several layers of synthetic and/or natural materials, such as synthetic and/or natural fibers in a heating and pressing process that may utilize hot melt adhesion. It is further known to incorporate an elastic foam layer between the substrate and the cover layer to achieve a “soft touch” effect, over the entire surface area of the article, or especially at selected partial areas that are to have enhanced cushioning. U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,925 (Spengler et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,678 (Spengler), U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,021 (Spengler) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,503 (Spengler et al.) disclose examples of laminated molded articles as well as methods and apparatuses for producing such articles according to the prior art as generally discussed above.
In the known three-dimensionally molded laminated articles, such as motor vehicle interior trim components, various different material layers may be used as the cover layer, depending on the desired appearance, quality, and price (among other factors) of the finished article. For example, the cover layer may comprise a layer or sheet of natural leather, synthetic leather, vinyl or other plastic films, or woven or non-woven fabrics. The material for the cover layer is conventionally provided as a finished sheet material in the form of a large sheet, web or roll, from which the required size and shape of the cover layer for the trim component is cut.
Furthermore, in order that the cover layer provides a decorative finished surface of the trim component, the sheet material for the cover layer may have a desired decorative appearance, such as a desired design, pattern or colors, as intended for the finished trim component. For example, when a woven fabric is used as the decorative cover layer, the fabric is provided with the desired pattern or design woven into the fabric with different colored threads or yarns by means of any suitable weaving technology. However, woven fabrics with such woven-in patterns or designs are relatively expensive, and thus lead to a significant cost increase in the production of motor vehicle interior trim components using such patterned woven fabrics as decorative cover layers. Also, because the decorative cover layer material is produced and provided with the particular design or pattern incorporated in the material as supplied, it becomes necessary to stock a variety of different materials in order to be able to provide different colors, designs or patterns for the decorative surface of the trim components being produced. This leads to strict limitations on the number of different colors, designs or patterns that can be offered for the trim components being produced, or leads to high costs due to the need of provisioning and storing an increased number of different cover layer materials with different colors, designs or patterns. This has a direct disadvantage for the manufacturer of the trim components, and for the ultimate consumer, because the individuality in the choice of color, design or pattern, as well as the color coordination with different automobile interior schemes is limited and/or the cost of the automobile is increased.
Some of the conventionally utilized cover layer materials, such as natural leather, have a natural texture or surface graining. Other cover layer materials such as synthetic leather, have a pre-formed surface texture, or graining, for example mimicking the natural grain of real leather. It is also possible to mold or emboss a surface texture or graining into the cover layer material during the lamination and molding process, for example according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,794 (Spengler).
In the textile industry, it is known to produce fabrics having patterns or designs woven into the fabric during the weaving production thereof. It has also become known that decorative designs or patterns can be printed onto fabrics after the fabrics have been produced without patterns or designs. Particularly, transfer-printing has been used for printing decorative designs or patterns onto fabrics for clothing and household goods (e.g. curtains, tablecloths, bed linens). This has made it possible to produce a great variety of designs, patterns, and the like rather quickly and economically on a single plain stock fabric as needed. Therefore, it is not necessary to pre-manufacture and store a great number of different fabrics with different woven-in designs or patterns. Instead, the desired design is printed onto a web of transfer paper using special inks or sublimation dyes, for example from an engraved printing cylinder by a rotogravure process. Then, to carry out the transfer-printing, the design is transferred from the transfer paper onto the fabric under the effects of pressure and heat. Particularly, the transfer paper and the fabric are brought into contact with one another and are heated and pressed together as they are guided around a heated cylinder of a calender apparatus. The special ink or sublimation dye on the patterned transfer paper sublimates, i.e. is converted from the solid state into the gaseous state, at a temperature of 195 to 215° C. during a dwell time of 25 to 35 seconds. The sublimated gaseous dye is transferred to the woven textile or non-woven material fabric and diffused into the fibers of the fabric. The printed fabric then has the desired pattern and is ready for use without further treatment.
The entire disclosures of all of the US Patents cited above are incorporated herein by reference as a part of the content and disclosure of the present application. The present application builds on, further develops, and improves on the above cited patents.